Page 43 of The Cocky Neighbor

Liam stumbled at my sudden action and crashed into my chest. He was surprised, but smiled when he saw it was me. "Oh, hey. I was about to go look for you."

"Here I am," I said as I steadied him on his feet. I loosened my hold on him, but he didn't step away from me. Our chests were still touching, and I could see his breath coming out faster.

"Dance with me?" he asked just as the DJ changed the music to something slower. I nodded and let him guide me to the dance floor as we left the twink there with his mouth hung open. It was rude, but I didn't care. I wanted Liam all to myself.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close as I wrapped mine around his neck. We swayed to the music for a minute as we looked into each other's eyes. He had a soft expression as he smiled at me, and it pained me to think that he'd never look at me like that again. I knew I couldn't let that happen.

I remembered the wise words Alfred had imparted onto me the other day. I couldn’t let my fear keep me from my happiness.

Maybe it wasn't fair to him if I tried to cling on when I was scared of relationships and knew the wreckage that followed a failed one. I didn't know if I was ready for that, but I wasn't ready to let him go either.

Perhaps heartbreak was the only ending for us, but we wouldn't know until we tried. I was tired of running away due to the risk of being hurt. It was time to fight for the person I wanted.

TWENTY-EIGHT

LIAM

I spent the entire day thinking about what to say to Eric. Maybe a wedding wasn't the best time to talk to Eric about the status of our relationship, but I knew I needed to do it today. My emotions from seeing him so close but being unable to touch or hold him were about to explode.

Having him in my arms was right, and I knew I could get him to see that. We swayed together on the dance floor. The music faded away as I watched the beautiful man in my arms. Eric broke eye contact with me, making the moment feel more intimate than it probably was.

I wanted to stay like this forever. Us without the complications that the world brought. We were just two men who were attracted to each other and didn't have to think about all the other stuff.

However, the otherstuffwas necessary. It couldn't be ignored forever, and I knew the time had come when the music ended and Eric dragged me off the dance floor and to a more secluded area.

He pinned me to the wall of the empty hallway and looked at me with fierce eyes. "We need to talk."

I took a deep breath for courage, hoping that this talk ended with us falling into bed together and not his rejection. "We do. Like I said earlier, I was thinking—"

"Wait," he said, holding up his hand to stop me. "I know what you want to say—"

"You do?"

"Yes, but can I go first?" I nodded. I was confused on how he figured out that I had feelings for him and wondered if him wanting to speak before I could confess everything was a good sign or not.

"I know that I was insistent before that we were sex friends and that was all there is to it," he said with a pause. He grabbed my hand and watched me.

"Yeah?" I prompted, squeezing his hand. I hoped to god that this went how I wanted.

"Thinking back now, I was so stupid. I was so confident that I knew what I wanted and didn't even try to take your opinion into consideration. I know now that I was wrong, and that this isn't going to work."

My heart dropped. I guessed I knew my answer. He didn't want anything to do with me, so there was no point in telling him I wanted more. I tried to pull back my hand, but he only held on tighter.

"Wait, I'm saying this all wrong. Please just listen to me," he said with pleading eyes. I nodded and gestured for him to continue. "My parents got married really young. Heck, the only reason they married was because they got pregnant with me, and the only reason they stayed together was because they thought it was how it was supposed to be. They couldn't stand each other but refused to get a divorce. Growing up, I don't think I'd ever heard them say a single nice thing about the other."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," I said and squeezed his hand tighter. He shot me a soft smile and held on just as tightly.

It finally made sense why he seemed so against the relationship, why he freaked out so much when we'd started acting like more than just one night stands, because that was what these past few weeks had been.

"It's not your fault, and it's fine. They finally divorced when I left for college, so I guess it all worked out in the end," he said. He gave a deep sigh that had his shoulders slumping before straightening up again.

"But that's not the point of the story. The point is that I was scared of getting into a relationship and turning into someone like them, so I pushed away any chance of that happening by keeping people at a distance. But then I met you." He looked at me with a soft expression that had my heart speeding up.

"Yeah? And then what happened? I irritated the hell out of you?" I teased. I wasn't as tense now that I had an idea where his speech was heading. He laughed, and it was a beautiful sound that came straight from his chest.

"That you did, but it was more than just that. You worked me up so much, but I realized I was having fun. Being with you is effortless, like you'd been there all along. I'm not saying I suddenly overcame my fear of relationships, because it still terrifies me, but I don't want to run away anymore. I don't want my fear to stop me from begging you to give me a chance before you end things," he said with bright eyes that I couldn't tear my gaze from.

I broke out in a smile that quickly turned into a frown when I'd realized what he had said at the end."Wait, wait. End things? Why did you think I was going to end things?"

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